1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for efficiently using a memory device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A flash memory is a non-volatile memory which continuously receives power, in which contents can be erased in units of blocks and can be input again. The flash memory corresponds to one type of memory transformed from an Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), and is faster than the EEPROM which erases or modifies data at a byte level, while the flash memory modifies data in units of blocks. Accordingly, the flash memory can be used for storing control codes, such as a Basic Input Output System (BIOS) of a Personal Computer (PC).
An Enhanced Media IDentification (EMID) technique for the security of data stored in the flash memory refers to a technique that physically embeds a unique ID to each flash memory during a flash memory manufacturing process. Accordingly, the data stored in the flash memory is stored using a unique EMID specific to a flash memory chip, and the stored data binds in a particular flash memory. As a result, the data cannot be decoded if the data is copied to another flash memory, which provides security. Further, in order to make better use of the unique ID, the flash memory includes limited slots used for respective applications. That is, the parallel use of the EMID and the slot of the flash memory guarantees independent security of applications.
A configuration of the EMID slot stored in the flash memory is equally determined regardless of a vendor manufacturing the flash memory. Accordingly, a flash memory's vendor is required to store data suitable for a configuration of an EMID slot stored in a predetermined flash memory. Since the type of data, an application, and a category may vary depending on a vendor, it is difficult to efficiently use EMID slots within the flash memory due to limited resources.